Steering-wheel.



fw WALP-E COPY BT A w. s, maximes.

STEERING WHEEL, V APvfLlcA-Tiowmepmwen.1915.

1,17,50; G-, f Patented Mar. 21, w16.

2 SHEETS- SHEET i.

a citizen of the United Specification of Letters Fateiit.

i er@ f mail @ci .Application filed June 14, 193.5. Serial No. 351,076.

To all iii/0m it may concern.:

Be it known that l, l'VALiEii S. TonRENC-E, States, residing at NewYork, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in SteeringsWheels and the like, of which thefollowing` is a spec ication.

The present invention has reference to improvements in steering^ wheels.

The features herein disclosed have ref-- erence particularly to thattype ot' steering wheel in` which means is provided for throwing thesteering wheel ,outvof commis sion when desired so as to prevent it fromfunctioning in the normal manner. TV heels of this-class or type are ofgeneral application in automobile and truck service, but the features ofthe invention are in no wise limited to such vehicles.

The main object of the invention is to iry terlock the wheel controldevice in 4such a way that, when the steering' wheel is thrown outofcommission, the ignition circuit oi' the engine will be simultaneouslyinterrupted or niodiiedso asto prevent the proper firing oi' the enginecylinders. By means ot' this interconnection, assurance will be `hadthat, whenever the steering wheel itself is thrown out of commission,the operation ol the engine will 'be simultaneously interrupted so as toobviate any `danger of starting or running the engine at 'such times.

Another feature of the invention has reference to the. construction oi'the steering wheel vlock itself. This Jfeature of the invention has forits main object the improvef ment ot' the mechanical construction ofthis lock so as to simplify the lock, and at the saine time im} rove`its mechanical-and operating features.

Other objectsand uses ot the invention will appear from a detaileddescription of the same which consists in the features of constriwtionand hereinafter described and claimed.

ln thedrawings:Figure l shows a hori` Zonta] section throughl asteering' wheel and associated parts having applied theretothe featuresof the present invention; Fig. Qris a vertical section taken on line ofFife. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 isl verticalsection taken on line w. Wheel. ifi cover cap i0,

the upper end et the post (l, maintains the coinbinations of partscranks.

3-3 of Fig. l, looking vin the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 4 is awiring` diagram, showing a typical set of electrical 'connections forthe ignition circuit, having applied thereto the features of the presentinvention.

In the several figures, the numeral 5 designates the post within whichis rotatably mounted the tubular steering rod il. vThis ,tubular rod Gruns down through the staitionarypost 5, and connects in a suitablemanner to the steering wheels, of the vehicle. Upon rotating the tube G,the direction of the steering wheels is adjusted one wav or the other.The steering wheel Z is rotatably mounted with respect to the post 5. Asa convenient form of construction?, the cap 8 on the upper end ci thepost directly sup' ports the bottom plate Si oi the steeringscrew-threade`d onto steering wheel in position on the-,post 5, but thesteering wheel is free to rotate with respect to the post 6 and caplOwhcn the lock ing device is thrown into disconnected position. Thecentral portion of the steering post is hollow, being' provided with achamber il. lVithin this chamber are mounted the lockinga mechanisms. Asleeve 12 is brazed or otherwise secured to the steering post 6, and aflange 13 on the steering wheel is free to turn with respectto saidsleeve. Whenthe flange is `locked to the sleeve, the rotation of` thesteeringjT wheel will simultaneously-rotate the steering post G. lVithinthe chamber il are pivoted the bell cranks 14 and l5. The outer ends ofthese bell cranks are connected to the pins 16 which slide within theflange 13, and which are adapted to engage with the sockets l? ot' thesleeve i2. When so engaged, 'the steering wheel is locked to thesteering post. @n the other hand, when the hell cranks are rocked 'intothe dotted line position, the pins 16 are withdrawn from the .sockets17, and the steering' `wheel is thereapon disconnected from thesteering` post. The inner ends of the bell cranks are operativelyconnected'to a collar 18 which threaded onto the pin 19. Rotation o saidpin carries the collar in the one direction or the other, to rock thebell A lock 20 oi2 any desired construction is provided forcontrolling;f the rotation the pin 19, so that, when a is inserted insaid lock, and is rotated, the pin will also be rotated in the desireddirection. i

Within the chamber 11, I mount an electrical contact 21 which will beengaged by one of the arms 14 when said arm is swung out a su'fiicientdistance to disengageits pin 16 from the corresponding socket 17. Thiscontact is so connected into the electric circuit that when itis engagedby the arm 14 which is grounded or otherwise connected to the electriccircuit, said circuit will be disabled for sparking purposes. In Fig. 4,I have illustrated one set of electrical connections, by means of whichthis feature of the invention may be carried into effect. The battery isdesignated by the numeral 22. It supplies current through the wire 23 toone end of the primary coil 24, and. from the other end of said coil,the wire 25 establishes A connection to the timing device 26. Thistiming device is actuated by rotation of the cam 27 as the enginerotates. The wire 28 connects the other side of the timing device 26 tothe battery. The secondary coil 29 has one end connected tothe point 30of the spark plug, and has its other end connected to the wire 25 bymeans of the wire 31. The sleeve 32 of the spark plug is grounded, andthe cam 27 is also grounded. Therefore, the return circuit of the hightension system is through the frame of the engine. The grounding of thecam also grounds one side of the battery. The contact 21 connects toAthe wire 23 by means of the Wire 33, and

inasmuch as the bell crank 14 is grounded,

it follows that the wire 23 will be connected to ground when the bellcrank is thrown out into disengaged position. Thereupon the battery willbe short-circuited, or at any rate rendered inoperative. A switch 34serves to open the primary circuit when desired.

While I have herein shown and described only a single embodiment of myinvention, still I do not limit myself to the same, except as I may doso in the claims, but I contemplate within the scope of my invention,any equivalent structures operating in equivalent manners to produceequivalent results.

I claim:

1. The combination with the ignition circuit and steeringvdevice of aself-propelled vehicle, of a steering wheel independent of the steeringdevice, there being a central chamber in said wheel, a pair of bellcranks pivotally mounted in said chamber, a pair of locking pinsslidably mounted with respect to the steering wheel and adapted toengage the steering, device when they are movl inwardly, operativeconnections from the outer arms of the bell crank to said pins, athreaded pin mounted in the steer- -ing wheel and extending into saidchamber,

a collar threaded ente said pin. an operative connection from the collarto the inner arm of each bell crank, and an electrical contactconstituting a portion of the ignition cir# cuit mounted within saidchamber-in position for engagement by one of the bell cranks when thesame is thrown into position to disengage its pin from the steeringdevice, to thereby render inoperative the within said chamber, operativeconnections vkfrom the outer arms of the bell cranks to the pins, meansfor actuating the inner arms of the bell cranks, and an electricalcontactl mounted within said chamber and constituting a portion of theignition circuit, said contact being mounted in position to be engagedby one of the bell cranks when the same is thrown into inoperativeposition for the pu-pose of thereby rendering the igni tion circuitinoperative.-

3. The combination with the steering device and'ignition circuit of aself-propelled vehicle, of a steering wheel, there being a hollowchamber in the steering wheel, a locking pin slidably mounted in thesteering wheel in position to at times engage the steering device, abell crank pivotally mounted within the chamber, an operative connectionfrom the outer arm of the bell crank to said pin, means for actuatingthe inner arm ofthe bell crank for the purpose of controlling theposition of the pin, and an electric contact constituting a portion ofthe ignition circuit mounted' within the chamber in position to beengaged by the bell crank when the same is thrown in'to such position asto withdraw the pin from locking engagement with the steering device, tothereby render inoperative the igni- 110 tion circuit.

4. The combination with the steering device and ignition circuit of aself-propelled vehicle, of a, steering wheel'. a locking` device carriedby the same and adapted to at 115 times engage the steering device-forthe pirpose of locking the steering wheel thereto, actuating means foroperating said locking device. vand an electrical contact constituting aportion of the ignition circuit and adapted 12 to be engaged by saidactuating means when the locking' device is disengaged from the steeringwheel to thereby render inoperative the ignition circuit at suchtime. l

- 5. The combination with the steeringr de- 125 vice and ignitioncircuit of a self-propelled vehicle, of a steering wheel, alockingdevice carried by said Wheel and` movable with rel spect thereto intoand out of engagement with the steering device, `means for actuatl"Lit/amo device from h@ smi-ring dvice, to themby locking device with thesteering-device.

TW ALTER S. TORRENCE. Witnesses: i A E. W. CLUTE,

R. A. BALDWIN.

such time, 'the operation ofy said Contact bemg independent of theengagement of the

